Anneliese Dodds MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, responding to reports furloughed workers will miss out on a rise in minimum wage, said:

“This is no April Fool – the Chancellor really has decided to hit the lowest paid furloughed workers with a pay freeze in the middle of a pandemic. That’s on top of his real-terms pay cuts for our NHS Covid heroes, his massive hike in council tax for families across the country and his plans to slash Universal Credit in just a few months.

 

“Hitting Britain’s families in their pockets isn’t just wrong – it’s economically illiterate. If families have less money to spend, then businesses will suffer and the recovery will take longer. That’s the cost of the Conservatives.”